Man&#39;s garter.



M. L. HAWKS.

MANS GARTER.

APPLICATION FILED ML 1. 1911.

Patented Feb. 26, 11918..

m/z/ll TTOR/VEY MOSES L. HAWKS, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

' MAN'S GARTER.

reams.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 2%, IQId.

Application filed October 1, 1917. Serial No. 194L124.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Moses L- Haw is, a citizen of the United States, and resident of the city of New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mens Garters, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to mens garters and is directed particularly to improvements in garters employing means for the attachment thereof to the stocking and an elastic band adapted to encircle the wearers leg.

It has been found in garters of the nature described that the elastic band loses its elasticity after short wear, and as a result the garter must be discarded since it can no longer be adjusted so as to firmly grip the wearers leg. .This difliculty is. due largely to the fact that the band is constantly subjected to the heat of the wearers body and the'rubber fibers gradually lose their elasticity under the influence of this heat. Not only do these garters with elastic bands lack in durability, but the Shirred fabric of which they are made is much more expensive than ordinary inelastic material. An attempt has been made to subsitute for the elastic'band a band made of inelastic material together with a tension member adapted to provide the necessary elasticity to give the hold or grip on the wearers leg. But the spring tension member heretofore employed for the purpose already described hasnot been constructed to give satisfactory operation and at the same time be neat in appearance and comfortable to the wearer, and the general construction of the garter with the tension member attached has made the manufacture thereof more expensive than that of the ordinary elastic garter, so that whatever advantages may. have been gained in the new construction have been more than offset by the extra cost of manufacture.

Ihe main object, therefore of this invention is to so cheapen the manufacture of the various parts of mens garters having an inelastic band in place of the usual elastic band, as to afford the advantages as to durability hereinbefore mentioned without increasing the cost of manufacture. In fact the cost of manufacture of mens garters made according tothe present invention is materially less than the present cost of similar garters employing elastic bands.

Another object of this invention is to provide in combination with an inelastic leg band, a spring tension member having sufficient capacity 'to efliciently adapt it to replace the elasticity of the ordinary form of garter and yet be cheap to manufacture and apply to the garter and neat and symmetrical in appearance.

A further object of this invention is to provide a spring tension member of the character referred to,,which shall have the advantages already described and serve at the same time as a frame for the leg pad, and the means for holding the tension member therein.

I attain these and other objects hereinafter to appear by providing a spring tension member formed of one piece of material and having a frame portion adapted to provide the frame work or stock for the pad portion of the garter and the means for holding the tension member in the leg pad and having arms integral with helical springs adapted to be attached to either end of the inelastic leg band. To further cheapen the construction, the pad portion is made of ordinary cloth or fabric in a simple manner hereinafter to be described, and the stocking clasp is provided with a button member made from one piece of material as hereinafter described-the latter being one of the novel elements of my invention.

In the drawings accompanying this specification, Figure 1 is a perspective view of my newly improved garter;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of my novel tension member, A

Fig. 3 is an elevational view showing the leg pad in unfolded position,

Fig. 4.- is an enlarged detailed section taken along line 44 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 5 shows the blank from which my nogel button member of the clasp is made, an

Fig. 6 is an enlarged detail section through the clasp showing the button member when completed, as made from the blank in Fig. 5.

Referring in detail to the drawing, my newly improved garter is seen to consist of the inelastic leg band 10, a spring tension member 11 cooperating therewith and adapted to replace the elasticity of the usual elastic band, a stocking clasp 12, the usual slide 13 for the adjustment of the length of the leg band, and the leg pad 1% adapted to bridge the ends of the leg band.

I, My novel spring member 11 is formed from one piece of resilient material bent into a rectangular frame member 15 for the leg pad 14, the sides 15 of the frame, being coiled into helical springs 16 and the arms 17 integral therewith formed with the hooked ends 18, whereby the leg band may be attached thereto. The latter is provided at one end with the hook clasp 19 adapted to engage one of the spring arms, the other end of the band being secured to the other arm preferably by passing the band thereover. and suitably stitching through the doubled portion of the band.

The leg pad 14 is made in the form of a pocket or covering into which sets the frame 15 of the spring member, and consists of a piece of material folded to substantially the width of the frame and having its ends folded back to provide the flaps 20 which are joined together by the stitches 21. The upper half 21 of the cloth or other material of the pad is folded down and the clasp member is held in a tab 22 which is inserted between the folded ortions of the pad to be there secured pre erably by stitches passing through the two halves of the pad and the tab, as will be readily understood.

As will be clear from Figs. 3 and 4:, the

frame portion 15 of the tension member is slipped into the lower half 21 of the covering into the pocket formed by the body of the covering, the back folded sides thereof,

' and the down folded half 21, the arms 17 resting against the front face of the pad portion. The spring tension member, as a whole, is thus removably held in the pad by the frame portion thereof, and requires no additional parts for securing it to the garter.

It will thus be clear that the frame portion 15 of the tension member serves at the same time to provide the framework for the leg pad and also the means whereby the spring member is held in operative position on the garter.

The stocking clasp member 12 is of the usual construction, but I form the button member 23 over which the stocking is gathered, from one piece of material shown in Fig. 5 and formed with the enlarged ends 24 recessed as at 25 and the button portion 26 disposed between the extensions 27. When the button is stamped out and the parts bent into proper relation to each other the enlarged end 24 form the base for the button 26 upstanding from the base and continuous therewith by means of the extensions 27, as will be readily understood. The button member is held in operative position on the stocking clasp in the usual manner on a back 28, which passes through the recesses 25, as will be readily understood.

As will be clear the down folded portion 21 of the-pad is adapted to bear against the and the spring is of sufficient capacity to adapt itself to all exigencies of wear, and yet afford a very neat appearance. The pad portion itself is made in a very simple manner, preferably from ordinary cloth and the button portion is easily made in one piece, as hereinbefore described. The various parts of the garter are thus comparatively inexpensive tomake and will cooperate with the inelastic leg band to give an eflicient, neat, durable,'and cheap mens garter.

Having thus described my invention, I

claim,

1. A mans garter comprising a leg band of inelastic material, a pad portion adapted to bridge the ends of said leg band and a tension member having means for removably holding the latter in said pad portion.

2. A mans garter comprising a leg band 1 of inelastic material, a pad portion adapted to bridge the ends of said leg band and a tension member having means for removably holding the latter in said pad portion,

said means adapted to provide a frame work and front portlons of the helical spring 16,

for the latter.

3. A mans garter comprising a leg band of inelastic material, a pad portion adapted to bridge the ends of said leg band, a frame member in .said pad portion, and tension members integral with said frame member adapted to be in engagement with the ends of said leg band.

4. In a mans garter, in combination with a leg band, a leg pad comprising a pad portion and a frame member held therein, said pad portion comprising a covering formed from one piece of material folded in two, the front half thereof providing a pocket for said frame member, and the rear half providing padding means between said frame member and the wearers leg.

5. A mans garter comprising a leg band of inelastic material, a pad portion adapted to bridge the ends of said leg band, said pad portion comprising a covering formed from one piece of material folded in two, and a frame member in one of the folded halves of the covering adapted to provide a frame work for the leg pad, and a stocking clasp held between the folded halves of said covering.

6. A mans garter comprising a leg band of inelastic material, a pad portion adapted to bridge the ends of said leg band, and a tension member removably located in said teeters pad portion, formed from a single length of resihent material coiled at either end thereof into helical springs having arms integral therewith, adapted to be in engagement with the ends of said leg band.

7. A mans garter comprising a leg band of inelastic material, a pad-portion adapted to bridge the ends of said leg band, and a I tension member removably held in said pad portion, formed from a single length of resilient material coiled at either end thereof into helical springs having arms integral therewith, said arms having hooked ends and adapted to be in engagement with the of resilient material bent into a substan- Witness by tially horizontal portion and two vertical portions" integral therewith to provide a frame work for said pad portion, and whereby said tension member is removably held therein, said vertical portions being coiled at either end into a helical spring havinga hooked arm integral therewith adapted to be engaged by the ends of the leg band.

9. In a mans garter a spring tension member formed from a single length of resilient material and comprislng a substantially horizontal portion, two vertical portions integral therewith,.said vertical portions being coiled at either end into a helical spring having a hooked arm extending theret'rom'as and for the purpose described and. specified.

' MUSES L. HAWKS.

STEPHEN 'll. 

